# Rosemary's Baby-like Mystery **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061 "2014-08-21T02:42:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Gilbert1984](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Gilbert1984](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilbert1984)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/141 "2014-08-25T18:09:33Z")
What’s behind it? A door. Door-frame and hinges are showing, but there’s no knob. The door is sealed/painted shut. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/142 "2014-08-25T18:52:25Z")
Um, yeah. We’ve already established that. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/143 "2014-08-25T20:01:20Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > So the hatch may lead to the apartment upstairs? Could the upstairs residents have been using the space as a storage area? No, it’s padlocked from the OP’s side. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/144 "2014-08-25T23:00:18Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I know what it is! You know the saying, “They say that…” which introduces some sort of rumour, factoid, or gossip? Well, ‘they’ have to operate from _somewhere_, right? A nook with a table and phone is perfect for a rumourmonger to sit. Hmm…does this mean that the OP is now obligated to assume the role of “they”? Wonder what happened to the previous “they” – stuffed behind the padlocked hatch, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/145 "2014-08-25T23:05:43Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > Also: > Hatch has a hasp and a padlock. With some bolt cutters, I could get upstairs. Is that access space in an oddly sealed closet? I could double up. Have you gotten the bolt cutters yet, or are you going to pansy out and just ask the upstairs neighbour if they have a hatch they can’t open? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/146 "2014-08-25T23:38:19Z")
The hatch is padlocked on _your_ side? Was someone trying to keep _something_ from entering? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/147 "2014-08-26T01:17:03Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > The hatch is padlocked on _your_ side? > > Was someone trying to keep _something_ from entering? Nail the door back. SCREW it back. Now! ---
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/148 "2014-08-26T02:51:44Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Butler’s Pantry! > > Probably the maintenance cubby–furnace, plumbing pipes, etc. But if the door is painted shut they wouldn’t be able to get to anything. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/149 "2014-08-26T10:44:52Z")
> [@PorchePine](#): > > No cats, but there is a yellow box with some sort of [fan](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Radiation_warning_symbol.svg/600px-Radiation_warning_symbol.svg.png) painted on it. Should I open it? So what about that box? I just now clicked on the image link. I didn’t see it before. There’s a yellow box with a radiation symbol? :eek: Maybe you should be calling somebody (just not on \*that \*phone). I’m not sure who. A local hospital’s radiology department? A college physics department? The fire department? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/150 "2014-08-26T11:44:54Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > So what about that box? I just now clicked on the image link. I didn’t see it before. There’s a yellow box with a radiation symbol? :eek: > > Maybe you should be calling somebody (just not on \*that \*phone). I’m not sure who. A local hospital’s radiology department? A college physics department? The fire department? Woosh… ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/151 "2014-08-26T12:02:33Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Woosh… Woosh yourself. Just going along with the joke. I thought it was obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/152 "2014-08-26T12:03:53Z")
It wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/153 "2014-08-26T12:10:17Z")
> [@67java89](#): > > But if the door is painted shut they wouldn’t be able to get to anything. It’s a great time-saver. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/154 "2014-08-26T12:13:56Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Woosh yourself. Just going along with the joke. I thought it was obvious. I guess it’s obvious it wasn’t obvious… Obviously. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/155 "2014-08-26T12:45:15Z")
Maybe the key to the lock is taped under the table or the phone? Are you going to cut the lock open? I would! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/156 "2014-08-26T13:12:46Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Maybe the key to the lock is taped under the table or the phone? > > Are you going to cut the lock open? I would! Phillip Marlowe would open it with a paper clip. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/157 "2014-08-26T13:14:44Z")
I’m in the US, and here, I’m pretty sure that if cutting the lock would give you access to the next tenant’s space, it would be illegal. Don’t know what you laws are. I think you may be free to make use of the space, though. In the US, we don’t get taxed by room, but I understand that in some European countries, that has happened at various times, so if there ever was some kind of dumbwaiter access with a phone for ordering shopping lists that came from the kitchen (maybe your basement was servant’s quarters), it was sealed so as not to be taxed, if you are in a tax-by-room country. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but maybe it you cover the hatches, and take the door off completely, it becomes an alcove, and noy a separate room. Or, you could just shut the door back up whenever the landlord comes to inspect. Put a magnetic catch on it, and then you can use a knob that doesn’t turn, and is held on by a screw, and can come off quickly. I had a hall closet that closed this way. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/158 "2014-08-26T13:41:02Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > In the US, we don’t get taxed by room, In Arkansas we pay personal property taxes on how many rooms the house has. It is supposed to be indicative of how much stuff you own. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/159 "2014-08-26T14:00:24Z")
> [@67java89](#): > > But if the door is painted shut they wouldn’t be able to get to anything. You only paint it shut if you can get to the space from some other entry-way. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061/160 "2014-08-26T17:17:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > In Arkansas we pay personal property taxes on how many rooms the house has. It is supposed to be indicative of how much stuff you own. I stand corrected. I’ve lived several places, and taxes have always been on footage. Too many people people will just try and get out of the room rule with wardrobes and folding walls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rosemarys-baby-like-mystery/696061.md?page=9)